Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The Nephite Family Life

The family was a major concern in the
laws of Near Eastern societies. Many well-established norms regarding family
life prevailed in these civilizations, standardizing the treatment of problem
situations which naturally arise in and around the family, marriage, children
and inheritance. Several collections of ancient laws, such as the Code of
Hammurabi, the Middle Assyrian Laws, the Hittite Laws, and the Cretan Laws of
Gortyn expressly addressed such issues as the status of women and children,
dowry rights, the formalities of marriage, the mechanics of adoption and
inheritance, and the resolution of disputes and difficulties arising out of
abortion, divorce, and widowhood, to mention only a few.

The rules regarding family law manifested
in these ancient law codes were remarkably consistent and stable. Indeed, it is
not uncommon to find that laws and customs dealing with family affairs remained
static for hundreds of years, and that a considerable degree of similarity
existed throughout all known bodies of family law in that area. The situation in neighboring Israel was
apparently not significantly different. Many sections in the Pentateuch address
and regulate legal issues, such as the rights and duties of parents and
children, husbands and wives. These biblical and Jewish law provisions have
been the subject of dozens of books and articles written by legal historians.

Although women, children, and family
laws are mentioned far less frequently in the Book of Mormon than in the Bible,
family matters had to have been a concern in Nephite law and society as well.
The Nephites married and were given in marriage; they had wives and children to
divide their property among when they died; they had need to organize and
protect their family relationships. Therefore, we can assume that family law
was a part of the Nephite world. How then might they have answered
questions about family law matters when they arose? Logically, there are three
sources of law and custom. First, they probably would have followed the
persistent and consistent customs and norms or common law which they knew from
the world out of which they had come. Life went on for Lehi the husband and
Sariah the wife, for Ishmael the father-in-law, and for the men who married
Ishmael’s daughters, even out in the desert. Second, they would have followed the
law of Moses. Lehi possessed the plates of brass containing the five books of
Moses; he considered those books authoritative and essential to the life of his
colony (1 Nephi 5:10–22). He loved and obeyed that law, which he considered
sacred and binding. It is important to realize that the law of Moses did more
than regulate the priestly ordinances or ritual aspects of ancient Israel. It
embraced both religious and secular, cultic and civil law. For example, Jethro
said to Moses, “Thou shalt teach them ordinances [hoqim] and laws [torot]”
(Ex. 18:20), and accordingly Moses issued laws and judgments, and established
rulers and judges—not only for their religious purification, but also for the
government of his people.

Some of Moses’ “ordinances” are
ordinances in the sense of city ordinances; others are ordinances in the sense
of priesthood ordinances. His judgments (the mishpatim) and his
commandments (usually the mitzvot), found largely in Exodus and
Deuteronomy, establish what we could consider to be the criminal, civil, family
and administrative laws, as well as the constitutional fabric of ancient
Israelite society. For example, the law of Moses defined the rules of culpable
and non-culpable homicide; it established principles of torts, commerce, and
property law; laws regarding perjury in a judicial proceeding, as well as
limitations on the executive powers of the king, are set forth in Deuteronomy. To the extent the law of Moses
addressed family law matters, it is hard to imagine that Lehi would not have
given those laws tremendous weight and great respect. This seems to be the
clear meaning of 2 Nephi 5:10, affirming that the earliest Nephites kept “the
judgments [mishpatim], and the statutes [hoqim?], and the
commandments [mitzvot?] of the Lord in all things, according to the law of
Moses.” Years later Alma 30:3 reaffirms that the Nephites were still strict in
observing the commandments (mitzvot?) and the ordinances (hoqim?)
of the law of Moses. Third, Lehi and his righteous posterity
relied on inspiration and revelation in deciding how to interpret and apply the
law. Moses used revelation, for example, in Numbers 36 to settle an inheritance
dispute arising out of a ruling regarding the daughters of Zelophehad.
Jehoshaphat instructed his judges to judge with the fear of the Lord and to
judge for the Lord in all matters of the Lord, of the king, of all
“controversies” and “what cause soever shall come to you” (2 Chr. 19:5–11).

Lehi quite probably did likewise. In
resolving the problems of inheritance, or in trying to avert the disputes and
controversies that existed among his sons, Lehi relied on inspiration and
revelation to understand how to apply the law of Moses and to deal with his
unique situation, as the following case studies illustrate. The Law of Moses permeates the Book of Mormon,
allowing us today to see, through the legal cases at how Nephites integrated
ancient Israelite laws into their society. It should also be noted that the Law of Moses was
not static over the centuries. Figuring out what the Law of Moses was at the
time Lehi and his family left Jerusalem can be difficult, but the more we learn
about the Law of Moses at that time, 600 BC, the more we will understand Lehi
and Nephi and the branch of Israelite law that they brought with them. The Book of Mormon tells us that the Nephites had
"the five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy—within the Brass Plates which Nephi and his brothers secured from
Laban’s treasury in their first trip back to Jerusalem. Some scholars believe that any law originally
given by Moses may have been edited, amended, modified, supplemented, or
transformed as the needs of society changed. We know, of course, from the Book of Moses in the
Pearl of Great Price that some of the creation and events had been changed over
time. Most changes were not extensive, but as it turns out, the arguments of
scholars about when and how the five books were assembled are moot for the Book
of Mormon. It is claimed that most of the Hebrew text of the
core legal codes was probably in place by the years 620-610 BC, when the plates
of brass seem to have been fashioned. It seems likely that the basic texts that
would have been familiar to Lehi are adequately represented by today's biblical
versions. The Nephites held the Law of Moses in high regard,
however that doesn't mean that every provision in the law as practiced in
Jerusalem would be followed by the Nephites in their new promised land. One
example of this is that the portions of the "Priestly Code" dealing
with the priesthood of Aaron and Levi would not have been followed since there
were no Levites with Lehi's family.

Another probability is in Deuteronomy, which was
rediscovered or created during Lehi's lifetime. It heavily influenced Nephite
law, but that doesn't necessarily mean Lehi agreed with the full agenda of the
"Deuteronomic reformers" of his day. Provisions in the Law of Moses for specific
"cities of refuge" in the land of Israel would be another requirement
that had to be changed or ignored. The biggest Nephite changes to the law were
"administrative changes”—revisions in how the law was implemented. The
best example is how Mosiah changed the government from kingship to judgeship.
But the underlying law only changed moderately over time. It should also be considered that the ancient Law
of Moses was more than a series of "thou shalt nots," since ancient
law was much broader than our modern conceptions of it. As an example, modern law
is often looked at as "specific commands" with specific consequences.
It is limited. Nephite law included laws, statues, ordinances,
customs, commands and teachings. It was simply "the way to live,” that is,
the correct way to live. The Nephites saw themselves as following in the
tradition of ancient Israel—including a greater knowledge of the coming of the
Messiah. This blending of elements from both the old and new covenants is One
of the most distinctive characteristics of the Book of Mormon is that it followed
the Law of Moses in a way similar to Jesus when he was on the earth. While we
do not know how Jesus observed every provision, we do know that he disagreed
with how some people interpreted the law. Certainly, the Nephites were no more
or less committed to the traditions of Israel than what Jesus had taught.

When
struggling over the command to kill Laban and obtain the brass plates, Nephi
stated that people “could not keep the
commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have
the law” (1 Nephi 4:15). Later, after the people took upon them to call
themselves the people of Nephi, he said, “And we did observe to keep the
judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things
according to the law of Moses” (2 Nephi 5:10). During
the time leading up to the visit of Christ to the Nepihites, it was written: “And there were no contentions, save it were a few
that began to preach, endeavoring to prove by the scriptures that it was no
more expedient to observe the law of Moses. Now in this thing they did err,
having not understood the scriptures. But it came to pass that they soon became
converted, and were convinced of the error which they were in, for it was made
known unto them that the law was not yet fulfilled, and that it must be fulfilled
in every whit; yea, the word came unto them that it must be fulfilled; yea,
that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled;
therefore in this same year were they brought to a knowledge of their error and
did confess their faults” (3 Nephi 1:24-25). The
Law of Moses was strictly enforced among the Nephites until the Lord stated: “as many as have received me, to them
have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall
believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law
of Moses fulfilled” (3 Nephi 9:17).